Presentation

When the society becomes aware that the 21st century marks a new era based on the Knowledgebased Economy, the institutions which are in charge of education and research for the training of the specialists in the field of Intellectual Property Law in Europe, must provide necessary training courses to the staff persons in the related professional environment to acquire or reinforce the necessary ability to initiate, control, protect, exploit, increase the value of the intangible assets.

The implementation with the globalization of the Knowledge-based Economy which integrates the Research-Development activity, the innovation, the industrialization and the marketing of products and services which incorporate the intangible assets, changes completely the enterprise management; it creates new profession or new specializations from economic operators, in direct relation with the intangible asset henceforth. Mainly consultants and specialists of the intellectual property, industry or practical practice, the managers, the jurists, lawyers and jurists specialized in the intellectual property in the enterprises, are confronted today with management of this branch of law.

Indeed, all the forms of the innovation developed by new economic activities assume the intervention of the law, the installation of tools, the structures for developing or conceiving, in order to control the intangible assets and to optimize their valorization. It was the duty of CEIPI of University of Strasbourg, centre of intellectual property studies in Europe, to set up a new Master program "Master of IP Law and Management", which comes to complete the existing training course meant for engineers, scientists and lawyers.

This "European" master in continuous training, is aimed at the experts of the intellectual property field in order to meet their needs. It will provide an original education program conceived from an investigation carried out in large enterprises in Europe.

The teaching staffs will be consisted of academics and experts of various countries, recognized for their work and their competences in each field where the intellectual property instrumentalises the policy of the enterprises.

Christophe GEIGER Directeur général du CEIPI

Intellectual property has become a crucial factor and driving force in the knowledge-based economy. The economic development and the competitiveness of companies more and more depend on the generation and exploitation of knowledge. Intellectual property can convert investment in corporate knowledge creation into economic benefits. Thus IP-based appropriation strategies form the basis to create wealth and competitive advantages for companies from their R & D and innovation activities.

The development and implementation of sustainable strategies for IP exploitation require a concerted integration of involved disciplines into an interdisciplinary view on IP. Only the combination of economic, legal and technological sciences fosters the competitive edge of companies in a knowledge-based economy. IP management within such a holistic approach provides optimized appropriation strategies and thus essentially contributes to the creation of wealth in a company.

Accordingly, IP management needs skilled managers who can combine the economics of intangible assets in an intellectualized environment with multidisciplinary knowledge in order to maximize the benefits of IP.

A new type of competences, skills and underlying knowledge enters the arena of management and management education. The increasing impact of intellectualized wealth creation by investment in knowledge, R & D and innovation followed by its exploitation and IP-based appropriation calls for seminal new education concepts.

The CEIPI program "Master of IP Law and Management" offers such a new type of management education. It follows an intrinsically multidisciplinary approach to meet the challenges and requirements of the knowledge-based economy. This master program combines legal, economic and management sciences and includes lectures from leading scholars in the field of IP law and management. Its ultimate objective is to qualify experienced IP professionals for acting as practically skilled IP managers with sound knowledge on wealth creation in our knowledge-based economy.